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Moad Belghouat, the Moroccan rapper from the February 20 Movement was arrested on 9 September in Casablanca. He is still in prison and has still not been granted a court hearing, according to his lawyer, Mohamed Messaoudi. Only the plaintiff – a member of the royalist forces – and a witness for the prosecution have been auditioned, a false witness, Mr Messaoudi claims.

An initial request for release was posted with the judge, but without success, and an appeal drew the same result. “We hope that Moad can be heard this week or next week. This case is now receiving a lot of media attention in Morocco, and we’ve received a lot of support, particularly from human rights associations.”

Moad Belghouat, alias Haked (the Enraged), has been charged with assault. He has been incarcerated since September 9th. “I visited Moad, there’s no problem in prison, he’s being well treated,” explained Mr Messaoudi.

The rapper from the poor neighbourhoods is an active member of the February 20th Movement, and according to his supporters, the accusation is a trumped-up charge to make the young man pay for his committed stance against those he calls “the corrupt looters who are dumbing down Moroccan society.”